Hailstorm hits City

UNUSUAL AND un-seasonal hailstorm accompanied by rains lashed several parts of the City around midnight tonight, further plunging the temperature which had already gone down following several spells of drizzle last night and early this morning.

indiaUpdated: Mar 02, 2006 01:36 IST

HT Correspondent None

UNUSUAL AND un-seasonal hailstorm accompanied by rains lashed several parts of the City around midnight tonight, further plunging the temperature which had already gone down following several spells of drizzle last night and early this morning.

While the hailstorm and drizzle did not cause discomfiture to the citizens in general, there were fears of damage to the standing crop of even harvested crop kept in open fields in villages of the district.

During the day, drizzles accompanied by steep drop in day temperature took the citizens by surprise. The change in weather brought some respite for the people reeling under unusual heat for the past few weeks.

Lightning and drizzle that had begun late in Tuesday night intermittently continued up to Wednesday morning. It was an unusual but pleasing sight to see schoolchildren going with umbrellas to their respective schools. Parents of higher secondary students, whose examination began today morning, had some concern but their wards were relaxed at the prospects of a cool day while they took exams in the examination hall.

In the past four days, there has been a drop of 10 degree in maximum day temperature. Maximum day temperature on February 26 was 37 degree. It has progressively come down to 27.1 degree on March 1.

But, drizzle seem to have come a little too late for the farmers. Rains during ripening of rabi crops are supposed to be good but at this time of the year, when crops are already ripe and ready to be harvested, rains do not augur well for the farming community.

According to local Met office, upper air circulation in the Arabian Sea near Gujarat has infused moisture in the climate in Western MP, leading to crowding of clouds and little rains. The trend will continue over next couple of days and night temperature, which has not shown much variation as of now, would also drop, Met officials said.

Damp climate is also being witnessed at several other places in Indore, Sagar, Jabalpur and Bhopal divisions and in next 48 hours drizzles are expected in southwest and east Madhya Pradesh. At some places, rains could be accompanied by hailstorms, said Met officials.